Because of its geographical location, Wenling has long suffered from typhoons. On August 12, 2004, Typhoon Rananim, the sixth strongest typhoon in PRC history, landed in Shitang Town, Wenling. On 10 August 2019, Typhoon Lekima, the third strongest in PRC history, came ashore at Chengnan Town, Wenling.
In 1469, Taiping County was formed in the area from Fangyan, Taiping, and Fanchang, three villages formerly incorporated into Huangyan. Yueqing County's Shanmen and Yuhuan villages were ceded in 1476.
In 1513, the county seat built 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) of city wall, roughly squared, giving it the name of "Square Castle".
In 1914, the county was renamed Wenling to distinguish it from counties with same name in Shanxi, Sichuan, and Anhui. Wenling ("warm mountain") was once another name of Wenqiao Town.
Wenling was conquered by Communist forces on May 28, 1949, and the county government was created. In March 1994, Wenling was made a county-level "city".
According to the 2020 Chinese census, Wenling had a resident population of 1,416,199, reflecting a 3.6% growth since the 2010 census. With a population density of 1,529 individuals per square kilometer, Wenling ranks as the eighth-most densely populated county-level city in China. As of 2021, the population with registered households in Wenling stood at 1,216,235.
Migrants account for 29.6% of the total resident population. Guizhou is the top province of origin of the migrants.
Like the majority of areas in Zhejiang, most people from Wenling speak a dialect of Wu Chinese, known as Wenling Hua. It is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin Chinese, and partially intelligible with (also Wu) Shanghainese. There is also a small portion of Min Nan speakers in the southeastern regions, especially in Shitang Town. The linguistic diversity of some regions has resulted in a segment of the population becoming fluent in speaking up to three languages, when Mandarin is included.
In the 2022 CCID Top 100 Counties ranking, Wenling secured the 16th position. With a GDP of 125.69 billion yuan in 2021, the city's GDP per capita stands at 103,158 yuan (approximately 15,990 US dollars). The services sector represents 48.7% of Wenling's total GDP, amounting to 125.69 billion yuan in 2021. The industrial sector, contributing 44.5%, accounts for a GDP of 55.92 billion yuan, while agriculture and related sectors collectively share 6.8%.
Wenling serves as a significant manufacturing center, with its largest industrial sector focusing on the production of pumps, valves, and compressors. Notably, five out of seven publicly traded pump manufacturers in China are based in Wenling. The town is also prominent for its shoemaking industry, manufacturing of bearings, gears, shafts, transmission components, automotive parts and accessories, as well as electric machines.
Construction is also a pillar of the city’s economy, it comprises 20% of the industrial sector.
The city is segmented into various public school districts for primary and junior secondary education, supplemented by a selection of private institutions. It comprises 85 primary schools (with 34 campuses and 7 private schools), 33 junior secondary schools (including 3 campuses and 3 private schools), a nine-year school, a sports school, an art school, and a special school. In 2022, the first-grade enrollment reached 15,620 students, while the seventh-grade enrollment stood at 14,408. Admission to public schools is contingent upon household registration and family property ownership for new students. There are ten migrant schools for the children of migrant workers who are not eligible to enroll in public schools.
For senior secondary education, there are fourteen regular high schools and three vocational schools. The enrollment number for the first grade of high school in 2020 is 6170, and the number for the first grade of vocational school is 5095. Students are admitted on the basis of their zhongkao results.
There are also 189 kindergartens, 134 of which are private.
Some students may participate in extracurricular activities. Adults can take adult education at training institutes. There are 149 training institutes, covering the training of sports, arts, English and skills training.
There is an open university offering distance learning. Residents may use the services of the Wenling City Library and its dozens of branches.
The municipal government is regulated by the local committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), headed by the Wenling CCP committee secretary. The local CCP committee issues administrative orders, manages the economy, directs the Standing Committee of the local People's Congress in policy-making and supervision of local government, and directs the Standing Committee of the local People's Consultative Conference in consultation.
Government officials include the mayor and several deputy mayors. Numerous bureaus deal with law, public security and other matters.
Other arterial roads include China National Highway 104, China National Highway 228, Zhejiang Provincial Highway 225, Zhejiang Provincial Highway 226, Zhejiang Provincial Highway 324, Daxi-Shinian-Songmen First Grade Highway, Luqiao-Zeguo-Taiping First Grade Highway and Luqiao-Zeguo-Taiping Elevated Highway.
There is no airport in Wenling. Taizhou Luqiao Airport is the closest, located 26 kilometers (16 miles) to the north.
Wenling is planning to build a general airport in Dongpu Farm.
Public bicycle service was launched in December 2011 with 3000 bikes and 300 bike racks in the urban area and selected towns. There are 10000 residents commuted by public bicycles each day in 2016. More separated bike lanes are installed in both urban and rural areas.
Hellobike, a private bike sharing service provider, has services in the urban area.
Qiangao (嵌糕; pinyin: Qiàngāo) is made with rice cake (Niangao) and many different dishes like fried noddle, carrots, potatoes, pork, tofu, and whatever people want. Qiangao is shaped like a big dumpling, and all the dishes are stuffed inside of it.[5]
ShanfenhuShanfenhu (山粉糊; pinyin: Shānfenhú) is made with Shanfen which is the powder made from potato related plants. Shanfenhu is sticky and gelatinous. Different things are commonly added to it. For example, for a salty taste, pork, mushroom, beans, tofu, peanut, etc. can be added; for a sweet dish, red dates, raisins, lotus seeds, brown sugar, etc. can be added.[6]
PaoxiaPaoxia (泡虾; pinyin: Pàoxiā) is a famous street snack in Wenling. It is translated as "Fried Shrimp," but it is not actual shrimp. It is fried dough made with wheat flour and stuffed with pork and cabbage.[5]
ChuiyuanChuiyuan (炊圆; pinyin: Chūiyuán) is made with glutinous rice. Dried small shrimp, pork, tofu, and carrots are stuffed into the glutinous rice bun.[5]
Maibingtong (麦饼筒; pinyin: Màibǐngtǒng) are thin crepes made from wheat flour mixed with Pseudognaphalium affine and some other green vegetable juices. Additional ingredients such as pork, stir-fried eggs, shrimp, onions, stir-fried noodles, etc. are added onto the crepes, which are then rolled up.[5]
14147 Wenlingshuguang (1998 SG43), a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1998, named after the event of the first sunlight (“Shuguang” in Chinese) of the new millennium shining on Wenling
Wenling shark virus, a virus found in an expanded group of potential arthropod and vertebrate host species that has many similarities with Hepatitis C Viruses
13 June 2020 – Wenling tanker truck explosion disaster, a fuel truck crashed and exploded, killing 19 and injuring over 170 people in Liangshan Village, close to the city of Wenling.[12]
![Wenling[1] is located in Zhejiang](/wiki/File:Map_Zhejiang_adm.png)
![Wenling[1]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/6px-Red_pog.svg.png){kind=small}
Logan City, Australia (since December 30, 1995)[7]
Seo District, Daejeon, South Korea (since December 22, 2006)[8]
Coclé Province, Panama (since September 22, 2017)[9]
Sabinsky District, Russia (since May 18, 2018)[10]
Wuppertal, Germany (since December 3, 2018)[11]
